The Perfect Gift
by PPP SSC
Summary: Knowing that he is not long for this world compared to his codependent life partner, Ike decides to hire a surrogate for the purposes of giving him a child. Very early Priam backstory, Ike/Soren. Takes place several decades after Radiant Dawn. Rated M for brief plot-important sexual themes, contains a character death.


The Perfect Gift

It was 677. Ike was steadily approaching 50 years old and it showed. Soren tried to put on a brave face but Ike could tell he was worrying about everything. Ike knew that Soren, with his mixed blood, would outlive him by decades if not centuries. He also knew that Soren was codependent to the extreme, and though he had mellowed somewhat over the years, he still understood that the heartbreak of death would be nearly insurmountable.

"Are you okay?" Ike asked, fully aware the answer was no.

"You'll be turning 50 next year," Soren said, "Isn't that showing?"

Ike said, "You know, if I could, I'd gladly stay with you for the rest of your life."

"Ike, unless I die in an accident, contract a horrible disease, commit suicide, or get murdered, I am going to outlive you. I'm too cautious to get in an accident, I trust you to prevent me from getting murdered, and I promise I will never commit suicide as long as you're in my life. I suppose I could contract a horrible disease, but somehow I don't think you want me to," Soren responded.

"No," Ike said, "I don't want you to die at all. I want you to live as long as possible. I just wish that that could happen without you being lonely and depressed forever…"

"Well, I don't know what to tell you," Soren said, "I mean, I may be able to talk to others to some degree, but as far as complete trust is concerned, I don't think I'd be able to trust anyone but you. Maybe your children but I don't think…"

"My… children?" Ike asked.

"I know it's stupid," Soren said, "I mean it's obvious that we can't have kids together."

"Says who?" Ike asked.

"Nature," Soren said with a perplexed look on his face.

"Well, okay, so maybe only one of us could technically _make_ the baby, but so what?" Ike asked.

"You do realize that you need to have intercourse with a woman in order to have a baby?" Soren asked.

"I know, but don't worry, I won't fall in love with her," Ike responded.

"I know," Soren said, "That's why I don't understand how…"

"It's okay," Ike said, "I'll think of you the whole time."

Soren smiled. "But Ike," he asked, "Where in the world will you find a woman willing to do that for you?"

"Around," Ike said.

Ike went into a small town and started asking around. "Excuse me, my partner and I were looking for the services of a surrogate mother," he said.

Most of the people who heard that looked at him very strangely and a couple of them even called him a nasty name. "Hey!" said a celadon-haired woman, "Leave him alone. It's not his fault that his partner is infertile."

"Umm… well, I don't actually know if…" Ike began.

"Oh, are you saying that there's some truth to their words?" she asked, smiling at him coyly.

"Well…" Ike said, rubbing his neck and looking away awkwardly.

"It's quite alright with me," she said, "I don't have any personal issues with such things. Rumors have spread that even the Hero of the Blue Flame had such inclinations." Ike turned ruddy as terracotta.

"Okay, listen, you have to not tell anyone here this, but…" Ike said, and then whispered something in her ears. She squealed with delight. "Shh! Shh! Keep it down…" he said. "I don't want anyone else to know who I am."

"But you told me," she said.

"Because I figured it was a need-to-know basis, especially if I'm going to hire you for such an important mission," he said.

"Wait…" she said, "You want _me_ to be the surrogate?"

"Hey, you're 99 times more tolerant than anyone else here," Ike said, "That's already giving me better odds than anyone else. But… before we do, there's one thing I need to know you won't discriminate against us for…"

"But I already said that…" she began.

"What do you think of the children of beorc and laguz?" he asked.

"They're people just like everyone else," she said.

"You're hired," Ike said without hesitating. "Welcome aboard, umm… I didn't get your name?" he said, awkwardly extending his hands.

"It's Veronica," she responded. "I can't believe I'm going to carry the child of… umm…" she said, "Sorry, let's go to your house before I continue."

"Good idea," he said, leading her out of the town into the small secluded area where he and Soren had set up. He asked through the window, "Are you decent?"

"No," Soren responded, "I decided that when you went out to potentially bring a stranger into our home that was when I would practice streaking about the house."

"Point taken," Ike said. "Come on in, Veronica."

Veronica followed Ike into the house. "Wow, I can't believe I'm going to carry the child of a legendary war hero!" she said. She looked at Soren and said, "I just must know how you two met."

"It's a long personal story full of heartbreaking details that you don't need to know, but the gist of it is, Ike saved my life once when I was a kid so I pledged loyalty to him forever and helped him win the wars," Soren said.

"He was my tactician," Ike said, "And my staff officer. And my best mage. And the person who always had my back in every battle."

"Please," Soren said, turning a pale shade of pink, "You're making me sound way more amazing than I was."

"Nope," Ike said, kissing him gently on the cheek.

"That's absolutely incredible," she said, "Childhood friends, war buddies, _and_ a rescue? No wonder you fell in love."

"There's more to it than that," Soren said. "We also… umm…"

"Accept each other as we come," Ike finished. "Scars, flaws, and all."

"Unfortunately," Soren said, "My standards for everyone else are remarkably high."

"It's okay, your partner already vetted me," Veronica responded. "I promise I don't care about what you are or about what you do."

"Okay, that's all well and good, but I need something else of yours," Soren said. He brought out a ledger, with a contract on it. "Please sign here that you will not attempt to make off with Ike on your own."

"Even if I tried he wouldn't be interested," she said, "Right?"

"I suppose, but that doesn't stop some people," Soren said, "Like this one merchant we used to know, for instance."

"Alright, I'll sign. You're the boss, umm…" she said.

"Soren," he said.

"Okay, Soren," Veronica said, handing back the ledger, signed.

"Thank you, Veronica," Soren said. "Now, are you at the peak of your cycle?"

"I think so," she said.

"Good, the sooner we can get this part over with the better," Soren said. "I know it's for the best, and that honestly without it I'd never have any children, but I can't help feeling a little jealous."

"Please don't," Ike said, "Remember: I'm probably going to have to think about you the whole time anyway."

"Thank you," Soren said, and then Ike began to make out passionately with him.

After a time, he pulled back and said, "I hope this one will last long enough."

Soren waited impatiently for Ike and Veronica to finish. It took way longer than he expected, but eventually they both came out. "I hope this worked," Ike said.

"Me too," Veronica said.

"That took forever," Soren said.

"Of course it did," Ike said, "It was very, very boring."

"I'm sorry," Soren said.

"Don't be," Ike said, "I'm doing everything for you."

"Well, I didn't think it was _that_ boring," Veronica said.

"If that's the best you can say, I can confirm that Ike was half-assing everything," Soren said.

"I was not," Ike lied.

"It's okay, I don't blame you," Veronica said. "But I'm curious. Why did you want a child so badly?"

"Well…" Ike said.

"Due to the differences in the circumstances of our birth, I'm going to outlive Ike. However, I also depend on him to an unhealthy degree… having children is a way to prolong my will to live after he dies," Soren said.

Veronica didn't respond.

"Yeah, I want to be able to give Soren a baby me to raise with me and hopefully the baby will grow up to be able to keep him company after I'm gone," Ike said.

"I love you, Ike," Soren said.

"I love you too," Ike said.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone," Veronica said. Ike took the opportunity to continue to make out with Soren, this time refusing to leave him hanging.

Veronica had indeed become pregnant as they knew within a few weeks. Ike and Soren cared for her during the gestation period, and Ike was very happy when the baby was finally born. She was beautiful. She looked just like Elena.

"Soren, we have a daughter!" Ike cooed.

"We do?" Soren asked. "That's wonderful!"

"I'm going to be sticking around a while longer," Veronica said, "You know, for nursing."

"You're allowed to stay as long as you like, Veronica," Ike said, "Thank you so much for your services."

"Oh, anything to help Ike the legend and his apparently severely underrated life partner," she said.

"Severely underrated?" Soren asked.

"Yeah, if everything Ike said about you is true, you should be just as famous as he is," Veronica said.

"Th-thank you," Soren said.

"Aww, Soren," Ike said, smiling at him, "You don't have to be insecure anymore. I love you and I'm sure that our daughter will too. Speaking of which, we haven't given her a name."

"How about we name her after your mother?" Soren asked.

"Yeah, let's name her Elena," Ike said. "The resemblance _is_ striking."

So Veronica continued to nurse baby Elena for several months until she could move up to solid food. She made Ike and Soren promise to take good care of the baby, but she understood that they would no matter what.

Veronica returned to the village and was asked where she had been for the last year. She responded, "Mmm… I was just having an affair with a certain legendary war hero."

"Wait, no fair! Where is he? What does he look like?" several women around began to question.

"I'm not telling, but he wouldn't be interested in you anyway," she said, smiling knowingly.

All of them raged with jealousy.

Ike and Soren raised baby Elena. They heard her first words, they saw her take her first step, they watched her grow up and eventually fall in love with the man of her dreams. In turn, they had a son, whom they named Geoffrey after the prince consort of Crimea.

In 704, Ike eventually passed away peacefully in his sleep. Soren cried by his bedside for a day or two. "Daddy?" Elena asked, "It's going to be okay. I'm still here. So are Andre and Geoffrey."

"Yeah," Soren said, "I know. I'm going to be okay. I just need a little time. Your other father was the only person I ever loved, you know… until you came into my life, I was convinced he was the only person I ever _would_ love."

"Oh, I know how you feel," Elena said, "I'm going to miss him too."

"I'm also gonna miss Grandpa," Geoffrey said. He was only four. He snuggled close to Soren, "But at least you're still here, other Grandpa."

Soren smiled at Geoffrey, the child who looked so much like Ike, and then held him tightly to his body. "I love you and your mother so much. I'm really glad that you two exist right now," he said. "Though you may not be of my flesh, you are of Ike's, and that is enough for me to pledge loyalty to your line as long as it continues as long as I am alive."

And true to his word, Soren kept guarding the line for ten more generations, until he eventually died at the age of 270. Though by the end of the line, none of them knew about the relationship Soren once had with Ike, they knew that whatever it was, it was enough to make Soren happy to provide for the family as a guardian.


End file.
